TheSamba.com :: View topic - STOLEN: 1987 Vanagon in Seattle, WA **FOUND**

Thu Jul 31, 2014 3:38 pm

I just saw this on CL

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/4595828582.html

Hopefully the owner will post up some more information. Interesting that it was stolen from (or near) a well regarded VW shop.

Thu Jul 31, 2014 6:03 pm

Crazy. Seems like Seattle is the only place on earth one could steal a van and blend in...

Thu Jul 31, 2014 6:27 pm

That's a bummer. I'm definitely thinking about some serious security for my bus, killswitch too. I may install an alarm to my train horns lol. My van sticks out like a sore thumb here on Long Island. I doubt anyone would get too far. I can't imagine there's more than 10 on the whole island. I could be wrong.

Thu Jul 31, 2014 6:52 pm

Kill switch, and use it....

Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:00 pm

Too bad they don't have recent photos of the van in it's current state. I usually take one or fifty photos of mine every week...

Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:27 pm

Have been using The Club on my Van every night. Kill switch is on my list as well.

Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:32 pm

The club and a kill switch. Both are so easy to install.

Thu Jul 31, 2014 9:07 pm

fleet_maintenance wrote: Crazy. Seems like Seattle is the only place on earth one could steal a van and blend in...

You could probably blend in pretty well in Eugene too...

Thu Jul 31, 2014 9:57 pm

NoNameNeeded wrote: fleet_maintenance wrote: Crazy. Seems like Seattle is the only place on earth one could steal a van and blend in...

You could probably blend in pretty well in Eugene too...

So true about Seattle. I was there a couple of weeks ago and couldn't believe all the old, air cooled VW's around. I felt like I was back in S. California in the 80's.

Thu Jul 31, 2014 10:01 pm

Hey Guys,

The van in question is mine. It's an 87' that's mostly stock. It does have Mercedes wheels and a Thule roof rack with two bike mounts. And, unfortunately, I don't have any recent images to show :(

It was overheating on my wife as she traveled through Bham so she pulled over and decided to have it towed in hopes of not causing any damage. The truck couldn't get there until late in the evening so we decided to have it dropped off at our mechanics shop on Meridian without us present. It was dropped off at about midnight. I stopped by on my way to work around 5am to make sure everything looked ok. It was there with all of our camping stuff in it. I called the shop owner to fill him in on the details and he told me that he had moved his shop three weeks ago! No big deal I'd just have to move the van asap. I went back after work around 7:30 and it was gone. I called the shop owner and asked if he'd moved or towed it but he hadn't. Called the police and they had no record of it being impounded.

My wife checked back the next day to see if our key was at least still there and the owner agreed to go back to check it out. Turns out that the shop had been broken into and there were people squatting in it. They also had taken the shops Sprinter van and had been living in it as well. The Sprinter has been recovered but my van is MIA. And most of our camping stuff was in the shop.

So I have a feeling that the van is in the area and the squatters were just joy riding around in it. But who knows? It could be a crack den at this very moment?

Thanks for posting my CL ad and looking out for me. I'm still in a little bit of shock so it's good to know you guys have my back!

Steve

Thu Jul 31, 2014 10:28 pm

I'm not local but those that are could likely use a license plate number to help ID your bus. I hope you get it back soon! :D

Thu Jul 31, 2014 10:37 pm

Right, it's 098XUR. Any images of it are on my old computer and I need to set it back up to find them. I'll post them tomorrow for sure.

Thanks!
STeve

Thu Jul 31, 2014 11:16 pm

You may want to call any "Towed at owners expense" signs posted at the shop or contact the current tenant/owner to see if they towed it. I did drive by the old shop after he moved to Westlake and there were still one or two cars parked there but it may be worth a shot.

Also, what kind of idiot steals a car from a mechanics garage with the expectation it functions properly?

Thu Jul 31, 2014 11:53 pm

Ay...I'll keep my eyes out for your van Steve. Most stolen cars are eventually found in our area. Just read there are on average 106 cars reported stolen every 24hrs in Seattle alone.

Fri Aug 01, 2014 4:12 am

"The Club" is completely useless...watch gone in 60 seconds :wink:

Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:39 am

I had no idea he'd moved the shop until after I contacted him the next day to let him know the situation with my van. The vans still on the lot are junk and look like parts vans for sure.

Since the key was dropped in the drop slot the people squatting in the space had a key/van handed to them. Had to be the easiest heist ever "here you go, take my van!" I feel for the shop as well because the squatters trashed the place and messed up his shop Sprinter.

So far the police haven't had any hits on the plates, but I'm heading out later today to cruise this trailer park where other vans have been found. Hopefully that will unearth something (fingers crossed). It was overheating when it was pulled off the highway so I doubt it could be too far from the shop. I'm thinking it might have broke down on the perps so they just left it for dead?

Fri Aug 01, 2014 7:38 am

Just unhook the throttle pedal rod
that always keeps me from driving the van..

insyncro wrote: "The Club" is completely useless...watch gone in 60 seconds :wink:

Fri Aug 01, 2014 7:45 am

The number of thefts in that area blow my mind. We think of Washington state as a coffee sipping, tree hugging, make love not war sort of place. This is not helping the state's public image.

Also, what type of shop owner moves his business and does not notify his customers? And then leaves an empty building and their Sprinter so squatters can break in. That is all just as hard to fathom.

Sorry for your loss. Hope it turns up like the others have.

Fri Aug 01, 2014 7:46 am

Man, that sucks. Hope you find it! And cruising a trailer park in search of a stolen vehicle?.... sounds like movie material. 8)

Fri Aug 01, 2014 8:02 am

rsxsr wrote:

Also, what type of shop owner moves his business and does not notify his customers? And then leaves an empty building and their Sprinter so squatters can break in. That is all just as hard to fathom.
.

Eion is a GREAT guy! He is simply spread a bit thin trying to make his dream of owning his own business working on Vanagons. The shops was previously called the Tec Shop when Eion took over total ownership, but the name was recently changed to Eion's Automotive. He has sunk a bunch of time and money into opening up his new place (just moved there in the past couple of weeks) and while it does suck that this happened in the first place and yeah, maybe things could have been done to prevent it, I don't believe that Eion deserves to take any heat for this. The owner asked the tow truck to drop it off at that location. Eion didn't know the van was coming, the owner didn't know that he had moved (and wasn't present to see the sign on the door) and the tow truck driver was just doing what he was told. It's just one of those bad timing situations.

Sorry for that, but Eion is just such a good guy that I don't want to see anybody jump on him for this.